Torchwood Blackbox
by MrData
Summary: My first Torchwood fic. Let me know what you all think of it!


Torchwood - Black Box

Gwen awoke to the sound of her phone beeping. She fumbled on the bedside table, knocking over a glass of water.

Her hand found the light and flicked it on, making her eyes sting. She ignored the grunts and moans from the other side of the bed.

Picking up her phone she fumbled with the buttons until she found the message that had just been received. The screen was blank apart from one word : Torchwood.

Gwen looked at the clock by the lamp. The bright red numbers read 3.23 am. She sighed and climbed out of bed, trying to find the clothes that she'd thrown on the floor the previous evening.

Fastening her bra and grabbing her trousers, she made for the bedroom door just as here phone rang.

Panicking, she pressed the answer button and held it against her ear.

"Yes?" she whispered, trying to control the frustration in her voice.

"Car's waiting outside. You'd better get your trousers on before you come outside though. Bit chilly out here."

Gwen looked down at her bare legs. How...?

"Turn that off, Owen!" Gwen heard a voice say through the mobile. "Give the girl some privacy!"

Gwen finished getting dressed as fast as she could and scribbled a note on a pad on the dining table before running to the front door.

The familiar black four wheel drive was waiting right in front of her house, it's engine purring softly.

"Jump in!" saidIanto from the driver's seat. "We got another meteorite to look at!"

"Not another sex-mad alien?" asked Gwen.

"Probably not." Said Jack from the passenger seat, smiling at her. "We've not had two in the same week so far!"

Gwen climbed into the back seat next to Owen, who was busy plotting a route on one of the various PC screens in front of him.

"Hey doll!" he smiled.

Gwen slapped him round the face. "If you ever, ever spy on me again, I'll kill you!"

Owen's mouth opened but no sound came out. His face turned beetroot red. "Sorry." He said quietly.

Jack, in the front of the car, smiled to himself. He told himself once again that he'd made a good choice.

The rest of the journey went by silently, with just the noise of the engine and the little voice from the satellite navigation telling Ianto which junctions to take.

It was almost 4.00 am when they pulled up next to a farm house, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The house was not in the best of conditions, and Gwen counted a few tiles missing from the roof and at least one broken window.

Jack jumped out and walked purposefully to the front door and knocked loudly, his overcoat blowing gently in the cold wind. There was light coming from one downstairs room, and the battered oak door opened within seconds of Jack's knock.

An old man peered out from the partly opened door.

"Who are you?" He asked. "Police?"

"Torchwood." Jack said to the old farmer.

"Hang on."

The door closed, then opened again after a few seconds. The old man appeared once more wearing boots and a thick coat that had obviously seen better days.

"This way." He said, pointing the walking stick towards a field next to the house.

Jack motioned towards the car and Owen nodded to Gwen. She helped him get some equipment from the boot and followed Jack and the old farmer.

They were led to a large crater in the centre of the field, grey smoke drifting gently from it's depths.

"Not as big as the last one," commented Owen, "but we got to check these things out."

"You know what they say, Owen," said Jack, "size doesn't matter, which in your case is a good thing."

Owen turned red again as Gwen stifled a laugh.

Owen scowled at her. "Just try not to throw anything at this one." He told her.

They got to work collecting soil and air samples, and Owen dug down in the disturbed soil to find the meteorite itself. After a short while he staggered out of the hole carrying something on his shovel.

"Good work people. Let's wrap this up and get back to the Hub."

Owen placed the meteorite and the shovel in the boot of the car along with the samples they had taken.

"Will there be any compensation?" The old farmer asked Jack as they walked back towards the car.

"What?"

"Well, that thing made a terrible noise when it landed. Scared my cows, it did."

Jack looked around. "What cows?" He asked.

"That's it, see? Scared them all away."

Jack smiled at the old man. "I'll see what I can do."

Soon they were speeding on they way back into the centre of Cardiff. Two police cars and a van passed them, speeding towards the farm.

"Sorry boys, we got there first!" laughed Owen.

The sun was climbing over the horizon as they pulled up next the fountain in Cardiff Bay. Jack, Owen and Gwen jumped out. Owen grabbed the object he had dug up, wrapping it carefully in a blanket to avoid touching it with his fingers.

They descended on the invisible elevator as Ianto sped off to park the car.

Owen set the meteorite down on a workbench and and slowly opened the blanket. They all stared at the charred item in front of them.

"What do you think it is?" Owen asked.

"Beats me." said Jack. "See if you can get it cleaned up a bit."

A little while later, after several cups of coffee to try and wake themselves up, they all gathered once more around Owen to see how they got on. The thing didn't look any different at first glance, but Owen had managed to ship off some of the charred earth on one corner. Underneath was a smooth orange and yellow surface.

"So, what can you tell us?" asked Jack.

"Well, it's weird." began Owen, scratching his head. "It seems to have fallen a long way, probably from high orbit. It looks to be made of some kind of plastic type stuff, but I've broken tow drill bits and only scratched it. There seems to be a join around the middle of it, but I can't open it."

"Looks like a plane's blackbox." suggested Toshiko, who had just arrived.

"I was thinking along the same lines." Said Jack. "See if you can get the rest of the charred bits off."

"Ok" Sighed Owen.

"Gwen, can you find out if there's been any plane crashes or mid-air incidents last night?"

"Sure. I'll make a call."

"Here, you can use this phone. It can mimic any number in the world." Said Toshiko, handing Gwen a phone attached to her PC.

She dialed the number for an old friend.

"Hello?" said a voice.

"Hi Andy."

"Gwen? Is that you?" Said Andy, a hint of surprise in his voice. "How have you been? How's it going in special ops? What are you doing in Aberdeen?"

"What?" said Gwen, puzzled. "What do you mean, I'm not in Aberdeen!"

"I've got your caller ID on my screen here. It's got an Aberdeen dialing code."

Toshiko patted her on the arm and pointed at the PC screen. A message read 'number ID : Harbourside fisheries, Aberdeen."

Flustered, Gwen sighed. " mean I'm not in the centre of Aberdeen. I'm on the outskirts. I need a favour Andy."

"Anything for you Gwen. What do you need? Is it classified?" replied Andy in a hushed voice.

"I just need to know if there's been any unusual activity in the skies over South Wales last night."

"None that I know of, but I'll check. Hang on."

As Gwen waited, Owen came over with a cup of coffee for everyone. Placing Gwen's next to the keyboard, he knocked the cup over and hot coffee splashed onto the keys. The screen flickered and the message showing the caller ID changed several times.

"Gwen?" Andy's anxious voice said in her ear. "Are you still there? My screen is now telling me you're calling from Bristol. No, now it's Manchester...Liverpool...Brighton. Gwen, what's going on?"

"I can't say at the moment. Anything to tell me about the Welsh sky?"

"No, nothing. No plane crashes, no UFO's, nothing."

"Thanks Andy. Speak to you later."

"So if it is a black box, it's not one from Earth." said Jack, looking round the table at Gwen and Toshiko.

"I don't know of any race that uses such colours in it's equipment." shrugged Toshiko. "I mean, bright orange?"

"I guess it was designed to be found, so a black box is the best guess right now." said Gwen.

Just then Owen called them back to the workbench.

"Cleaned up quite nicely!" he said proudly.

They all stared at the bright orange box on the table. It was about the size of a video cassette case, and didn't seem to have a scratch on it, even though it had fallen from orbit. Gwen tried to remember how hot NASA's capsules got when they re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. Whatever this thing was made from, it must be worth quite a bit to someone.

Jack stepped forward and picked the box up, feeling it's weight. He examined the seam around the edge and what looked like a clasp on one side.

"You've not tried to open it?" He asked Owen.

"Not yet, no. I scanned it first, but I can't get any readings of what's inside."

"What do you think, Gwen? Want to play pass the parcel?"

"Are you sure it's safe?" Gwen asked cautiously.

"Let's find out!" said Jack, putting the box back on the table and flipping open the clasp.

Using a bit of wood, Owen carefully opened the box, trying to keep as far away as he could.

When nothing bad happened, they all sighed in relief. Inside the box was what looked like an electronic device, with a screen that took up the top half of the front, with a number of buttons below it.

Jack lifted it our of the box and examined it, turning it over. On the back was printed, in large friendly looking letters, the words 'Don't Panic'.

"Looks like a portable TV." said Owen.

"Or maybe some kind of computer." suggested Toshiko.

Jack tried a couple of the buttons. He jumped when the device gave a couple of electronic raspberry sounds, then beeped twice.

"Thank you for purchasing the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy!" said a man's voice. "Please press the blue button to find out where you are."

Jack swapped glances with Gwen, who smiled at him. Then he pressed the blue button.

"You are on Earth." said the voice. "Earth's entry : Mostly Harmless. End of entry. Would you like to hear it again?"


End file.
